Eugene Giles

Abstract

In 2009, Dr. Eugene “Gene” Giles, PhD, D-ABFA (#14), sat across from me in a plush red velvet chair in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Chicago. We were discussing his research around the birth of forensic anthropology. Gene, enthusiastically, but in his usual reserved, self-effacing manner, discussed his time at Harvard and his current research project, an all-encompassing biography on Harvard anthropologist, Earnest A. Hooton. We had dinner; I do not recall what either of us had or even if the meal was particularly good, but I do remember feeling like our visit was more akin to the bygone era when dinner was less about nourishment for the body and more about food for the mind. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to get the chance to talk with Gene again and ask him to provide a little detail about his personallife story and to paint a picture of his long and lustrous career in biological anthropology.